Senior Policy Planner
About us at Hounslow
We’d love you to join us at the London Borough of Hounslow! Our people are deeply committed to providing excellent services to our residents, doing all we can to make lives as good as they can be.
We are an outstanding council, serving an outstanding borough. With brilliant, visionary leadership, a dynamic Cabinet and a can-do culture, we’ve built strong partnerships which have transformed how we serve one of London’s most diverse boroughs. Hounslow is the world in one place and full of potential. We are stepping up for our residents like never before.
About our Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion
We live by five core values: Lead with Heart, Do New, Pass on the Power, Harness the Mix and Be a Rock. All our work has equality, diversity and inclusion at its very heart, best articulated in “Harness the Mix”. It's about breaking down barriers between our parts and people and unlocking the problem-solving power of our amazing mix of minds. We serve a diverse community, we have a diverse workforce and we are committed to being an inclusive employer.
We work hard to create representation across our workforce and leadership community, we have thriving employee network groups and our learning and development programmes help us lead, model and breathe ways of working that eliminate inequality, inequity, injustice and bias.
As part of this and under our commitments as a Disability Confident Employer, we make reasonable adjustments to accommodate our candidates. There’s space for you to tell us what you need within our application form.
Our Benefits
If you join us, you’ll have access to a range of employee benefits. Read more about these here.
We recognise the importance of a good balance between work and home life so we do everything we can to accommodate flexible working, including working from home (dependent on service needs). Please just let us know in your application or at any stage throughout the process (and beyond) if this is an option you would like to explore.
About The Role
Senior Policy Planner
Hounslow is uniquely placed between Heathrow Airport and the City, with an extensive River Thames foreshore. Its vast axis from Chiswick in the east, to Feltham and the borders of Heathrow in the west, means that few other London Boroughs contain such a varied slice of the capital. The Borough has significant potential for growth and improvement, with exciting development and regeneration opportunities in its Town Centres, the Great West Corridor and Heathrow Opportunity Areas. The Council is currently producing a single Local Plan as well as Supplementary Planning Documents to guide development and growth in the borough.
Working within a busy Spatial Planning Team, the Senior Policy Planner will independently manage areas of planning policy, including leading on policies to be contained within the new Local Plan and associated evidence base. The post holder will have the opportunity to draft policies, play a significant role in the consultation processes on the Local Plan, and represent the Council at the Examination in Public. The Senior Policy Planner will also provide comprehensive and detailed policy advice on planning applications, pre-applications and where required on appeals, to agreed and identifiable timescales.
About The Team You’ll Be Working In
The Spatial Planning Team provides a range of services and functions, including the production of the Council’s Local Plan and Supplementary Planning Documents as well as carrying out the necessary associated research and evidence base. In addition, the team is responsible for the Community Infrastructure Levy and Section 106 governance, including collection, allocation and spending priorities. Furthermore, the team has a number of specialists in Conservation and Heritage as well as Urban Design, including the operation and running of Hounslow’s Design Review Panel. Monitoring development, including permissions and completions, is also another key function of the team.
The Senior Policy Planner will be mainly working alongside Principal Policy Officers as well as another Senior Policy Planner. The team is also supported by apprentices who are currently undertaking their town planning / urban design apprenticeships.
About You
We are looking for someone who will be able:
1. To prepare local planning policies and guidance that will form part of the planning policy framework for the borough. For this, you will need to demonstrate experience in creating and preparing local plan documents as well as applying planning policies to deliver successful planning outcomes.
2. To take a lead role in the preparation of evidence and studies to support and inform the Local Plan, building on your knowledge and understanding of national, regional and local planning policy and guidance, including associated legislative requirements.
3. To take an active role in public consultations on planning policy and guidance documents, including on engagement with key stakeholders and duty to cooperate bodies.
4. To plan and manage your own work as well as coach and support junior staff in the team, including Apprentices within the Planning department.
5. To lead on designated projects with minimum supervision, demonstrating effective report writing and communication skills.
6. To use your own initiative to identify solutions to problem, demonstrating a can-do attitude as well as good team working skills that foster productive working relationships within and across the Council as well as with external stakeholders.
You should have a degree or diploma in town planning or a related subject, together with membership of the Royal Town Planning Institute (or working towards/eligible for membership), and relevant work experience in either a local authority planning department or planning consultancy.
We are a supportive employer and will support the future post holder in their training and career development to become a fully rounded planner in local government.
Read more about the work you’ll be doing in the Role Profile.
When Interviews Will Be Held and Who to Contact
The key information you need about the role should be in the Role profile, but if you have any further questions about the role, please contact:
Email: Andrea.KitzbergerSmith@hounslow.gov.uk
Telephone: 020 8583 3301
Interviews for this job will be held during week commencing 4th December 2023, on 5th and 8th December 2023.
To apply please click on the "Apply Online" link below or visit www.hounslow.gov.uk/jobs